What justification does the Ahmadiyya movement have that Prophet Muhammad wasn't the last prophet?

Question

I was wondering how it is acceptable for the Ahmadiyya movement with not considering Prophet Muhammad the last prophet when that seems to be so central to Islam? I thought the belief that Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet was one of the five pillars?

I am looking for scripture references from the Ahmadiyya movement that helps me understand how they justify it. Did the question never come up? I am not looking for answers that indicate why the Ahmadiyya movement is blasphemous, incorrect, or non-Islamic.

Answer 1

As far as I know, Ahmadiyyas do believe that Prophet Mohammad was the last prophet. However, they believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (whom they are named after) is the promised Mahdi. As such, Ahmaddiyas believe that he is more of a reformer commissioned by Allah and not a prophet. You can read more about Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claim in this article.

Answer 2

All people who claim to be prophets after prophet Mohammad (pbuh) have used the same technique to make people follow them, Almahdi technique!

Since after Mohammad's (pbuh) death up to now, There were many cases where people claim to be Almahdi to make the people follow them and some of these actually somehow succeeded.

The question now is why do people who claim to be prophets always claim to be Almahdi? simply because Muslims know for granted that Mohammad (pbuh) is the last prophet which was clear in Quran and the only person with (prophety) attributes still to come is Almahdi beside Messiah (Jesus) who we as Muslims believe will come at the end of time. This was mentioned in a lot of Hadiths said by Mohammad (pbuh).

The leader of Ahmadiyya (Mirza Ghulam Ahmad) claimed to be both Almahdi and Messiah and he used this to convince people to follow him and he actually made some followers!

Regarding him being a messenger/prophet, He claimed that Ahmad was mentioned in Quran and God meant him. While Ahmad is a known name for prophet Mohammad who has another names also:

وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُم مُّصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ مُّبِي
And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad." But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, "This is obvious magic."[61:6]

Conclusion

Ahmadiyya followers believe that their leader is Almahdi and the Messiah and the Messenger who was mentioned literally in Quran. Other Muslims believe in Almahdi and Messiah but just not Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. There are Hadiths describe Almahdi and Mirza does not fit the description. Any way the time was not clearly mentioned. The prophet (bpuh) said it will be at the End Of Time which we do not know when exactly.

Answer 3

I can't say on behalf of the Ahamadiyya movement as i'm not associating myself with any particular movement. But just commenting on the justification that most 7adeeth based madhahib have on the lastness of the prophet is basing on the khatam word in 33:40 AFAIK.

and then there is this khitaamuhu misk.(83:25-26) it would be awkward to say that the seal of the wine is a fragrance, but it's most likely more that it had a certain signature to the wine and that signature is the scent of musk.

it's rather hasty to say that khatam to mean the seal. and then does the seal also always means the end/last? khatam could also mean the signature as in the usage above. and so this is just like treading on a shaky foundation, and is looking for trouble if using it to justify killing.(3:7) which in the quran there is no proof even for a justifiable reason to kill because of declaring kufr. one might be a mu'mim then a kafir then a mu'mim then a kafir again and it could happen (4:137)

also analogously the term awwalul mu'mineen to not mean the first mu'min but rather the prime example of a mu'min.(7:143) would just show that in principle there is a possibility of khatam to have a usage pattern that is similar to awwal.

wallahua3lam

just fyi: http://www.muslim.org/sa-case/evidence/s03.htm

Answer 4

As an Ahmadi myself, allow me to present our belief. This philosophy is taught to us by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as). I have quoted his works where he expounds upon this belief himself after a brief explanation here.

The English translation commonly used by Ahmadis (that of Maulvi Sher Ali) of verse 33:40 is the following:

Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah has full knowledge of all things. (33:40)

So خاتم النبيين is translated as Seal of the Prophets. This is the main translation that we use when discussing this topic.

However, Ahmadis still also take it to mean Last of the Prophets in the sense that he is the final law-bearing prophet and he brought the last shariah, and that no prophet will ever replace him.

Verses of the Quran used by us Ahmadis to demonstrate this are the following:

" O children of Adam, if there come to you messengers from among you relating to my verses, then whoever fears allah and reforms - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve." (7:35)

"And whoso obeys Allah and this messenger of his shall be among those who Allah has bestowed his blessings, namely, the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the righteous. And excellent companions are these." (4:70)

When we look at the Ahadith, this point becomes even more expounded and the truth becomes apparant.

First of all, Ahmadis acknoledge the following hadith (and those similar to it).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said to 'Ali: "You are to me in the position that Harun was to Musa, except that there is no Prophet after me." (Tirmidhi 3730 Book 49, Hadith 127)

However, the problem comes with the advent of Jesus (as). Will he not be a prophet? Hadith very clearly say that he will be:

"....Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would supplicate Allah, Who would send to them insects (which would attack their necks) and in the morning they would perish like one single person. Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then come down to the earth and they would not find in the earth as much space as a single span which is not filled with their putrefaction and stench. Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then again beseech Allah..." (Sahih Muslim 2937a Book 54, Hadith 134)

In this hadith the phrase نبي الله عيسى comes up multiple times. Sunnah.com translated it as "Allah's apostle, Jesus." A more fitting translation of course would be "Allah's prophet, Jesus."

We also see.

"The Prophet (ﷺ) said: There is no prophet between me and him, that is, Jesus (ﷺ). He will descent (to the earth)...." (Sunan Abi Dawud 4324 Book 39, Hadith 34)

It should be noted that Ahmadi Muslims believe in the death of Jesus (as) as expounded by the Quran and Ahadith. A detailed list of proofs I have included here if one wishes to see: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hiqgKcEo64B70XPkBxMNYXaYTFl6T47qV3XK1-MrtvY/edit?usp=sharing

However, to keep it brief the problem is that if Jesus (as) of old comes back he will violate the finality of Prophethood. The argument that he was a prophet before is meaningless since this hadith rejects the coming of any prophet after the Holy Prophet (sa) (لا نبي بعدي). In fact, if he is granted prophethood before, that is the real moment when the Holy Prophet's (sa) status as خاتم النبيين is violated.

Hadith do not reject the general concept that prophets can come:

"I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, "Nothing is left of the prophetism except Al-Mubashshirat." They asked, "What are Al-Mubashshirat?" He replied, "The true good dreams (that conveys glad tidings)." (Bukhari 6990 Book 91, Hadith 9)

"Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "A good dream of a righteous man is one of forty-six parts of prophetism." (Bukhari 6983 Book 91, Hadith 2)

How do Ahmadis reconcile these Ahadith with خاتم النبيين and لا نبي بعدي? Well clearly prophethood is still open for the ummah. However, it is not true prophethood but partial prophethood. And this is the prophethood that the coming Messiah of the Muslims would have. He would have the title, but he wouldn't be the true prophet in essence because his prophethood is nothing but a reflection of the prophethood of Muhammad (sa). Anything he gained is in obedience to him (sa). Jesus (as) of old did not gain his prophethood through obedience of the Holy Prophet (sa) but it was granted independently by God. So his coming is outside the realm of خاتم النبيين. As Ahmadis like to say it, Jesus (as) of Bani Israil does not have the "Seal" of Muhammad (sa).

This topic, naturally, is tackled by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) himself very thoroughly in his books. While it would be a lot to quote everywhere, I will mention a very concise explanation in Arabic of this concept in his urdu book Tawzeeh-e-Maram. The English translation (Elucidation of Objectives) has this Arabic passage and its translation on pages 17-18:

https://www.alislam.org/library/books/elucidation/Elucidation-of-Objectives.pdf

و السلام على من اتبع الهدى

Answer 5

Holy Quran verses:

" O children of Adam, if there come to you messengers from among you relating to my verses, then whoever fears allah and reforms - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve." (7:35)

"And whoso obeys Allah and this messenger of his shall be among those who Allah has bestowed his blessings, namely, the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the righteous. And excellent companions are these." (4:70)

"Alas for my servants, there comes not a messenger but they mock him" (36:31)

Hadith:

Hazrat Ayesha (ra) states "Say he is 'seal of prophets' but do not say 'there is no prophet after him" (Takmilah Majma'ul Bihaar, pg 85)

Hazrat Shah Waliullah (mujaddid of the 12 century) states "The ending of prophets at the advent of the Holy Prophet means that after him, there can be no such person as would be given a law by the Almighty Allah and sent to the people"  (Tafheemati Ilaahiyaah, pg 53)

Holy Prophet (saw) reported to say  in hadith "Abu Bakr is the most exalted person in this Ummah except if there happens to be a prophet" (Kanoozul Haqaaiq Fee Hadeeth Khairul Khalaiq)

Two different descriptions of Jesus.

"I saw Jesus. He was a man of a reddish complexion." (Bukhari, Kitab al-anbiya, ch. 24) "I saw Jesus, Moses and Abraham. Jesus had a reddish complexion, curly hair and wide chest" (Ibid.,, ch.48)

The Holy Prophet (saw) reports a dream of the future:

"In a state of sleep I saw myself circumambulating the Ka'ba, and i saw a man of wheatish complexion with straight hair. I asked who it was. They said: This is the messiah, son of marry. (Bukhari, kitab al-Fitn, ch. 22, "Mention of Dajjal")

Answer 6

Assalamu alaikmum. As an Ahmadi Muslim I can answer for you. 1) The Holy Quran does not state that Muhammad saw is the last messenger. 2) The belief of The Prophet being 'last' is not central to the Islamic belief. 3) It is not part of the 5 pillars of Islam. 4) We justify everything from the Holy Quran. The Ultimate scripture.

Jazakallah